Basic Process for Adobe After Effects

Before beginning, it is important to know that After Effects works sort of like a web site or a Quark document works. It references files but does not include them directly in the project. Therefore, if you move a file from one folder to another, After Effects will show a broken icon or give a message that you are missing something.

So set the directory structure up early…

Create a folder on the data hard drive called "aeproj1" to hold all of your after effects project stuff. Inside this folder, create another folder called "psd files", also a folder "audio", and as many others as you need for the multimedia elements. Finally, create a folder called "output movs".

Create a file in Photoshop with isolated elements, each on different layers. Use size, 720 x 480 ppi, 72 res, RGB color. You shoud get this by setting the preset of DV/NTSC format with guides. Work within title and action safe areas. Save the file in Photoshop format in the "psd files" folder for the project.

It is a good idea to drag your entire "aeproj1" folder to the student folder of the computer you are working on in the university (not art dept.) lab.

Launch After Effects and give the Untitled Project which opens a new file name. Save it in the "aeproj1" folder, but not inside of the other folders within the folder.

Next, import the Photoshop file into the project by choosing…
Import as Composition.
You can also import a specific layer using Import as Footage.
If you import as composition, you will see a composition icon and a folder which contains each of your named layers, all inside of your project window.
Next, double-click on the composition icon. This will open a timeline which shows each of your layers. You will see that the timeline is probably ten seconds long.
To change the movie's duration, go to "composition" > "composition settings" and change the duration according to smpte timecode. Fifteen seconds would be 0:00:15:00 (0 hours:0 minutes:15 seconds: 0 frames)
Your movie will probably import files with a standard duration of ten seconds.
To change the length of a graphic layer, click and drag on the triangle. Use shift to snap to the end measurement length (15 seconds).

You can either click the triangle next to a layer's name to open the transform options and select properties, or
you can use letter shortcuts to open a specific property.
t: opacity
p: position
r: rotation
a: anchor point
s: scale
To register a change in property over time…

Do the following:
Enter a time to go to by clicking on the underlined current timecode box and entering a time.
You could also scroll through the timeline to get to a new time.
Then immediately click on a stopwatch in a property control to start measuring changes.
Set a property either on the stage or by using the numerical methods under each property.